Sarkozy's crackdown on offenders and gypsies

After riots, the French president announces that offenders of French origin could be stripped of their acquired nationality. Illegal Roma camps will be removed, while Prominent French Roma musician Bireli Lagrene says he wants to leave France. An Israeli group buys hotel that hosted Nazi officers, then concentration camp refugees. And Carla Bruni stars in a Woody Allen movie: Is she fit for the job?

Top News: As a former interior minister, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has built part of his reputation on his tough stance against immigrants. This was instrumental to his victory in the 2007 presidential elections.

But now he is going even further — after violent incidents in several French towns, Sarkozy announced that offenders of foreign origin could be stripped of their acquired French nationalityif they are convicted of serious crimes, including threatening a police officer’s life.

Surprisingly the measure was well received by many French people: According to a recent poll conducted by Ifop for the daily Le Figaro, 70 percent support the law, which has yet to be passed. The poll was a welcomed boost for Sarkozy, whose approval rate recently hit a record low.

A New York Times editorial also judiciously pointed out that Sarkozy’s father was born in Hungary and his wife in Italy, and that both of them became naturalized French citizens. The New York Times editorial also accused Sarkozy of “fanning dangerous anti-immigrant passions for short-term political gain.”

Indeed, Sarkozy’s approval rate had plummeted to record-low levels because of the sluggish economy and the conflict of interests scandal, which still needs to be investigated.

“I am a Gyspy,” Lagrene told the paper. “I know that these people take life one day at a time, and they need this freedom. Now the government wants to take this freedom away from them.”

“I am tired of the French system,” Lagrene said. “I want to get out of France soon.”

Money: Here is a revenge on history that took the shape of a hotel acquisition.

More than 65 years after Nazi officers occupied the historic Lutetia hotel in Paris, after the very same bedrooms hosted concentration camp refugees — it was a main caring and meeting center for refugees and their families — the Israeli Alrov group has bought the property.

The hotel, celebrating its centenary this year, was previously owned by the Louvre Group, Europe’s largest hotel group after Accor. The Louvre Hotel Group itself is owned by U.S.-based Starwood Capital, and its growing debt of more than two billions dollars prompted a disinvestment from the luxury hotel sector and a focus instead on lower-priced hotels.

The names of the streets where the movie was shot were kept secret, and staffers wore badges that read “W.A.S.P.” or “Woody Allen Secret Project.”But soon enough, the press found its way to the shooting locations.